As Long As You're Mine
by MyLittleElphie
Summary: The Wizard calls his guards, Fiyero tries to help Elphaba to escape from the throne room and the rest is history… Or maybe not? Alternative scene. One-Shot.


_**AN:**_

_Ok, this must be like the most corny and worn-out title in the entire Wicked section, but given the content I could not resist LOL!_

_It's probably not one of my best and written in a hurry, but I had to get it out of my system ;)_

_To anyone who might be waiting for updates for my multi-chap: I'm terribly sorry for the really long delay and will work on it as soon as I return from Australia! Please don't see this short story as something that prevented me from updating, because this is a one-night-job and for WA chaps I usually need about a week! Thanks for your understanding. :3_

_Please enjoy!_

_xoxo MLE_

* * *

><p><strong>As Long As You're Mine<strong>

The soldiers that had come rushing into the throne room together with Fiyero just moments earlier, had left in search of the water that the young and dashing new Captain of the Guard had requested. Almost panicked, Elphaba's wide eyes were fixed on Fiyero on the other side of the large room, his rifle still ready.

"Fiyero, not you, too!" she pleaded.

She could feel her heart's beating slowing down as her chest tightened around it, constricting it until it hurt.

"I said silence!"

Another pang of pain. The Vinkun Prince's cold words quite literally pierced the already struggling organ like an icicle. Of course she had lost him, Glinda and all of her other friends and loved ones years ago, yet being so close to him, on the receiving end of such hate and revulsion, was almost certainly too much to bear. She was fine on her own, she was good at flying solo – at least as long as she could tell herself that it was her choice to abandon the few people that had meant so much to her, and not the other way around.

Still coming to terms with the cruel reality of it all, her feelings were suddenly thrown into another loop when Fiyero took a huge step forward – not to seize her as by now expected, but to grab the Wizard by his collar with one hand and point his weapon at him with the other.

"Don't make a sound, Your Ozness! Unless you want all of your guests to know the truth about the Wonderful Wizard of Oz!"

The green woman blinked a few times. For a brief moment, she was not even entirely convinced, that what she thought to have seen was truly happening. But surely enough, the prince now turned his attention back to her and with soft, blue eyes, he urged her to flee.

"Elphaba, I will find Dillamond later. Now get out of here!"

Relieved as she was, however, running was the last thing on her mind.

"Fiyero, you frightened me," she breathed, one hand on her chest, where her heart gradually began to recover and resume its intended purpose. "I thought you might have changed."

"But I have changed," Fiyero replied, and Elphaba could see in his eyes that he spoke the truth. There was something there that she had never seen in them before and for a silly moment, she wondered whether it was a spark of love.

Before she even had time to berate herself for such ridiculous thoughts, however, the scene was interrupted by a whirlwind of green, sparkly gown and petticoats and blonde curls.

"What's going on? I thought I heard-"

Galinda stopped dead in her track as soon as she had walked through the door and spotted a glimpse of emerald that was not part of the usual inventory of this grand room. Her bright eyes, as wide as saucers, found Elphaba's and a sharp intake of air could be heard by all parties present.

Given the fact that just mere seconds ago the petite blonde had been rooted to the spot like a mighty, steadfast quoxwood tree, Elphaba could not quite comprehend, let alone explain, how she was suddenly being squashed and squeezed in Glinda's slender, but astonishingly strong arms.

"Elphie!" she shorter girl sobbed into her chest, "Oh thank Oz you're alive!"

Again, the witch felt her heart acting up. It skipped a beat, before leaping right into her mouth. Hesitantly, she wiggled one of her arms out of the tight embrace to lightly rest it on her best friend's back. It landed on the bare skin of her shoulders and a small jolt of electricity licked at her fingertips.

In the same instant, Glinda broke the embrace and desperately grabbed Elphaba's upper arms, her well-groomed brows in a deep frown.

"Oh but you shouldn't have come! If anyone discoverates you—"

"Glinda, you better go," Fiyero piped up from the other side of the room and the blonde turned her head with a start, as though she had either forgotten or never even realised that he had been around.

"Fiyero, what are you doing?" she asked confused, quickly letting go of her former roommate.

The prince rolled his eyes at her as he hissed, "Please, just go back to the ball!"

Trying to salvage the situation, Glinda used her inborn diplomatic skills to console the Wizard.

"Your Ozness, he means no disrespectation. Please understand, we all went to school together..."

As Glinda rushed towards the man to help him off the ground, Fiyero stepped back and took her place besides the green witch.

"Elphaba," he said, laying a hand on the small of her back, trying to gently usher her away.

Slowly and rather mechanically, Elphaba began to move in the direction of the the balcony Fiyero pushed her towards. She mounted her broom, wondering whether she wanted to look back or not. She knew that she needed to see Glinda's face before she left, but also that it would definitely make it so much harder to actually leave.

As good as set on simply disappearing into the night without another glance back, she readied herself to push off the ground, however, was thrown out of balance as a firm hand grabbed her shoulder. From behind, she could hear Glinda's high-pitched voice at it's most extreme.

"Fiyero, have you misplaced your mind? What are you doing?"

Elphaba reeled around, finding Fiyero half mounted on the broom behind her.

"I'm going with her," he declared matter-of-factly.

The blonde's mouth dropped open in an almost ungainly fashion.

"What?"

Just as surprised, Elphaba released her broom, letting it fall to the ground.

_"__What?"_

She watched Glinda's mouth close slowly, then her bottom lip began to quiver ever so slightly, as the petite woman fought to maintain her composure.

"What are you saying? That the two of you… All this time? Behind my back?"

Why, she could not quite tell, but seeing her friend so utterly destroyed, almost broke Elphaba's heart. There had been a time, when she had truly thought that she must be in love with Fiyero. And surely, if he were to come with her now, it would be easy enough to fall back into this feeling, hoping against hope, that the words he had just spoken and the suspicions that Glinda had suddenly raised, indeed meant what she believed they did. But she could not do it.

She fully turned around, flicking Fiyero a quick glance, then focusing on Glinda.

"No it wasn't like that."

"Well, it was," the Vinkun Prince tried to argue, but wavered when Elphaba cast him an angry glare. "But it wasn't… Let's go."

His final words sounded small, a little pleading and nearly desperate.

The tall woman met his gaze and held it, not moving or saying anything.

Time was still for a while, it seemed like, until the silence was ripped apart by a noise as soft as the rustling of Glinda's skirt.

Elphaba felt a warm hand grab her cold one.

"Well," the petite woman began quietly, then cleared her throat to speak with more conviction. "_I_ am going to go with you, Elphie."

Elphaba froze, unable to even move her head the fraction of an inch to look at the blonde. What would happen if she were to look? Would Glinda break into laughter and call her a fool to fall for such a silly joke? Or would she find that her friend was not even standing beside her and that those past few clock-ticks had been nothing but a trick of her tired and confused mind?

Feeling the warm hand squeeze hers tightly, she did finally dare to turn and regard the beautiful blonde before her. Said blonde looked up to her with one of the brightest smiles she had ever seen on her.

She flicked her dainty wrist to pick up the battered, old broom with a pink flurry of magic, then handed it to Elphaba.

"Let's go," she repeated Fiyero's words, and this time, without a hint of hesitation, the witch swung herself on her broom.

Elphaba felt small hands gingerly grabbing her waist for support, and at once an entire swarm of butterflies flew up in her belly.

"R-ready?" she asked with a slightly shaky voice, and in response Glinda removed her hands from her waist to tightly wrap her arms around it instead.

She rested her head against Elphaba's shoulder – most likely squeezing her eyes shut in somewhat frightful anticipation – and Elphaba could feel her nodding yes.

One deep breath, and Elphaba was ready to leave this messy scene behind. The broom took off, carrying the Wicked Witch and the Good Witch as far away from the Wizard's Palace, as its two passengers would allow it.

* * *

><p>The flight itself had been an uneventful and, perhaps, somewhat uncomfortably quiet affair. The two girls had barely exchanged three words as they were soaring through the night sky. Elphaba had never been good with words when her head did not know how to handle what she felt in her heart, and Glinda had simply been too frightened to do as much as open her eyes just once.<p>

When they finally landed, the awkward silence continued at first, but not for long.

"Finally!" Glinda exclaimed, exhaling uncharacteristically forcefully.

Elphaba turned her head to look at the blonde and smiled a little, quite sure she knew how relieved the petite girl must be feeling, now that she once more had proper, solid ground under her feet.

However, that was not what Glinda meant.

"Finally," Glinda repeated, this time turning towards her former roommate and beaming at her. "I've done what long ago I should."

Cocking her head, the green girl cast her a questioning look.

"All those years back. In the attic," Glinda barely elaborated.

Now it dawned on Elphaba what she meant, and she waved it off.

"It was a difficult situation back then and too much to ask of you," she replied. With a quieter voice she continued, "And it still is."

Grasping for Elphaba's hands, Glinda stepped closer and vehemently shook her head.

"No, it isn't. Not as long as I can be with you."

The butterflies in the witch's stomach, which had settled a little earlier, suddenly began to flutter again. She wasn't sure why, but she found herself completely overwhelmed by the touches and the passionate words she received from the shorter girl. The long period of solitude must have done this to her, she resolved in her head.

"So," she chuckled nervously, trying to cover up her disarranged feelings, "Now that you're here… What do I actually do with you?"

"Now," Glinda said, a sort of shy, but also quite cheeky smile on her lips, "you kiss me!"

Before any of the inevitable surprise could even display on Elphaba's face, the beautiful blonde had grabbed her by the collar and pulled her down, making their mouths meet in a long and firm kiss.

Too stunned and overwhelmed, Elphaba was unable to return the kiss, yet despite that, Glinda seemed not willing to remove her pale pink, glossy lips from her chapped, green ones before she had had her fair share of intimate contact. When the blonde finally did release her, she was even more surprised, or perhaps relieved, to see no trace of regret in the bright eyes of her friend, or whatever she should call her, given the unusual circumstances. (She was quite sure that friends don't kiss like this and moreover, they had_ never_ done _anything_ like this back at dear old Shiz.)

"I… um…"

Giving up on expressing her confusion, Elphaba plopped down on a fallen tree trunk, her face deep purple and her gaze trained on her shoes.

Glinda noiselessly sat down next to her and brushed a strand of ebony hair out of her face to tuck it behind her ear. Then she rested her hands on Elphaba's shoulder and finally her head on her hands, inching a little closer with her body as well.

Admittedly, they were a rather peculiar sight: The green witch in a well-worn and far too often mended, mainly black dress, she herself likewise marked by the years on the run. A fugitive of Oz. And beside her, the delicate, elfin blonde in her glittery ball gown, fashioned out of the most expensive cloth to be found in the Emerald City.

After what had seemed like a small eternity, when dawn was finally breaking, Elphaba had gathered at least some of her thoughts and wondering whether Glinda had fallen asleep, she tilted her head upwards and to the side a little.

"Have you figured it out, Elphie?" Glinda's sweet voice asked as soon as their eyes met again.

A brief pause followed.

"Figured out what?" Elphaba asked, her mouth uncomfortably dry.

The blonde smiled.

"How you feel about what I did earlier."

"I…"

She was worried that words would fail her again. But she desperately wanted to say something, so she pushed on, past her inhibitions, no matter how insurmountable they seemed.

"I… just don't understand," she finally said.

It wasn't exactly what she had had in mind, however, it was a start.

"I'm not quite sure if I do either," Glinda laughed. "But the heart wants what the heart wants and I'm sure you believe me if I say, that I'm not the type to just close my eyes and leap into the dark. Yet today I did just that. So I'm certain, that this is - that _you _- are what I truly want."

Slowly shaking her head, her expression unreadable, Elphaba looked away again for a moment, before taking a deep breath and facing the blonde again.

"And what if I say that I can't do this?" she wanted to know.

Glinda bit her lip.

"I'm not sure. But I guess I would have to accept it."

She did look a little nervous to Elphaba, but still surprisingly sure of herself.

"But Elphie? Could you still allow me to stay with you? Could you please not send me away?"

A light breeze of air gently tugged on blonde curls, making them dance around the perfect face as it was illuminated by the tender, rose and golden rays of the first morning sun. Discovering so much sincerity and emotion in that lovely face, and overpowered by her own feelings, Elphaba could not help but lean in and capture those sweet lips that looked oh so ready for the imminent kiss. This time they both moved in harmony, soon entangling their hands in long, raven tresses and layers of green brocade fabric.

Breathless after a series of kisses that were far more passionate than she could ever have had anticipated, Elphaba broke away and rested her forehead against Glinda's. By now she was fairly certain that she understood what the butterflies, her heart, and pretty much her entire body were trying to tell her. With every inch of her being she ached to be with Glinda, but how could this ever be?

"How could I ever send you away?" she breathed and the blonde smiled, stroking her high cheekbone with her thumb. "But frankly, you're quite out of place here. How can you ever survive out here with me?"

A melodious laughter escaped the petite girl's lips and she gave her green love a quick peck on the nose, which was by now a little more crooked than she remembered it, possibly the result of an injury sustained during her rough life on the run.

"Don't you worry about me, Miss Thropp, I'll be quite alright. At least as long as you're mine."


End file.
